Small business owners are often faced with the inquisition: How do I pinpoint what means most to me in a GC partner? Then how do I use this to discover a team that comes close?
The majority of people you’d ask would immediately say an on time, on budget finish is the key determinant of a good general contractor. While this is a big part of the success picture, to limit your contractor search based on budget or schedule wouldn’t lead to the deep-rooted, longstanding relationship that is out there waiting for you.
Here’s why:
There is a huge value in aligning philosophy and culture in two partnering businesses. Without a fit in vision and project expectations, there is potential for conflict that would deter the success of your organization as construction goes off track and relationships derail. Trust is the main goal. With the livelihood of the business in the general contractor’s hands, a business owner must understand that their best interests are being represented by their construction partner. To address the pop ups of construction projects head on, there must be open lines of communication. Without any barriers, both parties can tackle issues head on, while leveraging each other’s expertise in whatever a road block may present.
What means most to me in a GC partner?
Take a look at the requirements of your project. For instance:
– Location: you may want a construction manager who oversees a specific region to be within a reasonable distance to your desired project location.
– Specialty materials connections: Are there suppliers that you’d prefer the GC/their subcontractors to have relationships with in order to gain access to competitive, quality materials?
– Financial performance: Across the board, business owners should aim to have a sound understanding of their vendors’ financial standing so that they won’t wake up one day and have their key resource out of business.
– Relationship capabilities: This is another quality that is key regardless of project scope. References can be a fantastic way to gain honest feedback on a general contractor’s strengths and weaknesses. This request is a great way to look into the relationships that a firm believes are strong by showing if the feelings are mutual across both sides.
Look to both your project need and organizational mandatories. From there, establish a top 10 list of qualities desired in a general contractor partner. An interview is a good option to
Narrowing Down Your Options
Next, you’re going to want a comprehensive view of who’s out there. If you don’t have any recommended partners, the internet has a ton of free resources to narrow in on exactly what your top 10 list of qualities are to prioritize.
Business listings are very helpful, but be sure to investigate matters on your own before trusting anything you see (as top spaces are often paid for, and not necessarily placed by rating or popularity.) For commercial general contractors, the Blue Book of Building & Construction Network is a great resource to specify category and filter by geography.
Even your standard yellow book will provide some options that you can research further to determine fit. Next, to spare yourself unnecessary confusion and complexity, you’ll want to stick to establishing three bidders to accept proposals from. To make things easiest, remember the bidding basics laid out in JH Greene’s GC selection white paper and you will have a good means to compare bids.
This blog has been a brief preview of the comprehensive advice laid out in our team’s recent white paper publication catered specifically to small business owners. To learn how to optimize your general contractor selection process, download our free white paper now. Whether you’re experienced in construction or not, this guide will help you gain desired construction results (before you find yourself over budget and behind schedule).